Design and evaluation of a touch screen concept for pilot interaction with avionic systems

Touch screen technology is already present on the flight deck of various categories of aircraft, with the majority of current solutions based on the use of multiple touch screen displays situated on the main instrument panel and/or the central pedestal. This often requires the crew to lean forward or sideways to interact with different displays and makes it harder to make accurate selections, particularly in turbulent conditions. This paper proposes a novel touch screen concept which enables the crew of single and dual pilot aircraft to interact with various avionic systems throughout a flight using a single tablet-like device positioned in front of each crew member. Such a device could be fitted to current flight deck environments and used as an alternative method of interacting with the aircraft, i.e. while retaining all existing controls and displays. The concept focusses on the use of touch screen techniques within each of the following functional areas: autopilot control, navigation, aircraft performance, and systems. This paper describes the requirements, design, and pilot evaluation of this concept (developed to a technology readiness level of 3) and discusses the results.